Annabelle is Associate Professor of Linguistics, and the Faculty of Human Sciences’ Director for the Master of Research. Her research interests include the study of language in politics, media, healthcare and literature, and she is currently finishing a book titled War and its Ideologies: A Social-Semiotic Theory and Description.
Annabelle is interested in contributing to a better public understanding about the nature and power of language. She has been interviewed on commercial and public radio, and has contributed a number of articles to The Conversation.
(1) In a nutshell, my job is to…
Inspire people to understand how central language is to every part of their lives.
(2) The question I hear most often in my work is…
Why can’t you give me simple rules for understanding grammar? Short answer: because grammar is the custodian of our cultural metaphysics (meaning ‘beyond physics’). This makes ‘rules’ completely the wrong metaphor for describing patterns in language.
(3) The thing I find most rewarding in my role is…
When students start to see how beautiful, how fascinating, and how powerful grammar is.
(4) This year I want to…
Read more poetry and fiction – literature is where we see the aesthetic potential of language. I’m also putting more time into improving my Spanish.
(5) The bravest thing I’ve done is…
Giving birth. Honestly, it is not for the faint-hearted.
(6) My mother/father always told me…
My father always told me “the perfect is the enemy of the good”.
(7) My guilty pleasure is…
I don’t feel guilty over the things that give me pleasure. But like most working mothers, I am prone to feeling guilty about my children. I try not to indulge this cultural reflex – ever noticed we never speak of “working fathers”?
(8) I’m scared of…
The influence of big money in our political system.
(9) My hidden talent is…
I’m learning how to use my knowledge about language to be a good conversationalist with family members suffering dementia. (Linguistics comes in very handy!!)
(10) A moment I’ll always remember is…
When Colm Halbert (our former Faculty Research Manager) told me I’d been awarded an MQ Research Fellowship. It was a life-changing experience for me.
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In line with Adrielle’s comment above – I’d be very interested to read an article around communicating with dementia patients. With a few illustrations, would also be a wonderful web-comic
Political “leaders” use words like hero to manipulate people to support wars and to facilitate recruitment. A hundred years ago Frank Wedekind got into trouble by satirical writing like: Heute gibts nicht Menschen mehr, Überall nur Militär. Ach wie schön ist’s in der Welt: Wo man hinspuckt, sitzt ein Held.
Hi Annabelle. I loved reading your answers to the 10 questions! I’d really like to know more, especially how you use your knowledge of linguistics to help family members with dementia. Do you write a blog…or perhaps publish on this topic?
Here’s to not letting the perfect get in the way of the good!
Cheers
Adrielle